Sprint Dropped the Ball!

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Oct 18, 2009

Is it just me or did Sprint drop the ball on the HTC Hero? I have not seen any ads or marketing whatsoever. I am a self proclaimed phone expert lol jk.

But seriously, my last phones list like this Sprint: Samsung Instinct, Blackberry Curve, LG Lotus, Palm Pre, AT&T iPhone, and now my Sprint Hero. I am saying with 100% confidence the Hero is the best all around phone, with the most possibilities, on the best network. The only place the Hero is lacking is in the camera department.

I left the iPhone for the Hero and I am not looking back. What the Hero looses in speed, which most people will not notice. It easily makes up for in customization. So, why in the heck has Sprint failed to market the best phone they have ever had on their network?

I am not completely promoting the phone to help Sprint. I am promoting the phone to make sure Sprint keeps it updated and that we get support, accessories etc...

For example watch TV, do you see all the tmobile commercials for the My Touch.

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Oct 16, 2009

Absolutely agreed. I think they're afraid of investing too much into a new phone and new platform before it proves a success, which is the wrong way to go around it. Can't really succeed if you don't try, can you?

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Oct 14, 2009

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Oct 17, 2009

YES i completely agree, this phone is #1 and it has NO promotion, most people have no idea how great this is, they can kill iphone's "app for that" commercials, verizons "map for that" commercial, and at&t's rollover minutes in one shot, 69.99 call ANY MOBILE ANYTIME!

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Oct 15, 2009

I don't think Sprint market its phone enough at all, they'll market the network but not the phones so much. It seems Sprint is very hesitant or afraid to market more than one phone at a time, the Pre got a lot of play in the market but at the same they released the Touch Pro 2 and never really mentioned it, just as you see no mention of the Hero. its as if they're afraid one phone will take from another. I've moved from the Pre to the Hero and I have to tell you, the Pre does good things but its not a phone to be used for business, it seems so much like a phone for teens. Yes but Sprint seems to want to put all of their marketing money in one phone at a time. The last phone really advertised before the Pre was The Instinct (another bad phone)

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Sep 18, 2009

Sprint totally dropped the ball in regards to informing the masses about the Hero but the more I think about it the more it seems like it was intentional.

Maybe it is because they have no balls and didn't want to upset Palm as they rode the Pre hard and are now too afraid to admit that the device it's OS and it's truly awful marketing campaign has tanked in a big way?

Right now I am a very happy Hero owner, but what upsets me is that in the rush to get this phone to market it seems like HTC & Sprint cut a lot of corners.

This phone was snuck in the back door to early adopters and it seems like we are being used as beta testers.

Some of the problems such as the clock widgets not setting properly, sms battery draining, MIA messages, and especially the phone being shipped with an outdated system version! could have been easily fixed/avoided if they took their time and released the phone a little later.

But instead they shipped an unfinished/unrefined product out for us to work out the kinks....and to be honest it is a bit upsetting as if this is how they are going to treat their flagship phone what does it say about Sprint as a company?

Don't get me wrong I love my Hero and am now 100% convinced that Android is the future of the cell phone industry, but if some of these issues aren't resolved in the next few weeks I'll be seriously considering returning my Hero to Sprint and moving over to Verizon to get my hands on a Droid.

At least Verizon has taken the time to create a phone with more than just a cutting edge OS but given it a cutting edge processor and updated system software to show off what the OS is capable of.

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Oct 19, 2009

T-Mobile has established themselves as the place to go for Android devices, just like AT&T has for the iPhone. Sprint is attempting to do the same thing for Palm phones. They are still advertising the Pre, and will begin to advertise the Pixi once it is released. That is my take.

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Oct 19, 2009

Sprint totally dropped the ball in regards to informing the masses about the Hero but the more I think about it the more it seems like it was intentional.

Maybe it is because they have no balls and didn't want to upset Palm as they rode the Pre hard and are now too afraid to admit that the device it's OS and it's truly awful marketing campaign has tanked in a big way?

Right now I am a very happy Hero owner, but what upsets me is that in the rush to get this phone to market it seems like HTC & Sprint cut a lot of corners.

This phone was snuck in the back door to early adopters and it seems like we are being used as beta testers.

Some of the problems such as the clock widgets not setting properly, sms battery draining, MIA messages, and especially the phone being shipped with an outdated system version! could have been easily fixed/avoided if they took their time and released the phone a little later.

But instead they shipped an unfinished/unrefined product out for us to work out the kinks....and to be honest it is a bit upsetting as if this is how they are going to treat their flagship phone what does it say about Sprint as a company?

Don't get me wrong I love my Hero and am now 100% convinced that Android is the future of the cell phone industry, but if some of these issues aren't resolved in the next few weeks I'll be seriously considering returning my Hero to Sprint and moving over to Verizon to get my hands on a Droid.

At least Verizon has taken the time to create a phone with more than just a cutting edge OS but given it a cutting edge processor and updated system software to show off what the OS is capable of.

Click to expand...

I agree that there isn't any sort of marketing for the Hero. I played around with one a few days ago and it looks great. I am guessing that Sprint is playing it safe with a relatively new phone- they don't want an epic failure of a phone like Verizon had with the BlackBerry Storm that was released last fall, touted by VZW staff as the iPhone killer. I bet we see more on this phone in the next couple of weeks, once they have had time to see how it is working in consumers' hands.

HOPEFULLY Verizon put enough testing into the Motorola Droid so that it works properly when its released and doesn't have a load of issues like the BlackBerry Storm did, that would be a major setback for Verizon.

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Oct 19, 2009

Sprint hasn't embraced the "social" community ever. They've counted on business as their bread and butter. Just watch Dan Hesse commercials, it's not a car full of kids going to a concert, it's a cab full of adults going to work...

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Oct 18, 2009

I am thinking they blew their load on the Palm Pre. Every Now Network commercial I have seen, shows the Palm Pre off during the unlimited to any mobile ad. I had the Pre, when it came out. It was way more buggy, felt plasticky, and the software is no where near as customizable. I have also had the iPhone and I know Android is the future for smartphones.

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Oct 18, 2009

They dont even have them displayed at the mall where I work, we have 3 sprint stores and not one of them has it out, you have to ask for it to even see the display model??? doesnt make any sense to me why they would do that, maybe theyre afraid they wont sell any more pre's??

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Oct 6, 2009

Sprint totally dropped the ball in regards to informing the masses about the Hero but the more I think about it the more it seems like it was intentional.

Maybe it is because they have no balls and didn't want to upset Palm as they rode the Pre hard and are now too afraid to admit that the device it's OS and it's truly awful marketing campaign has tanked in a big way?

Right now I am a very happy Hero owner, but what upsets me is that in the rush to get this phone to market it seems like HTC & Sprint cut a lot of corners.

This phone was snuck in the back door to early adopters and it seems like we are being used as beta testers.

Some of the problems such as the clock widgets not setting properly, sms battery draining, MIA messages, and especially the phone being shipped with an outdated system version! could have been easily fixed/avoided if they took their time and released the phone a little later.

But instead they shipped an unfinished/unrefined product out for us to work out the kinks....and to be honest it is a bit upsetting as if this is how they are going to treat their flagship phone what does it say about Sprint as a company?

Don't get me wrong I love my Hero and am now 100% convinced that Android is the future of the cell phone industry, but if some of these issues aren't resolved in the next few weeks I'll be seriously considering returning my Hero to Sprint and moving over to Verizon to get my hands on a Droid.

At least Verizon has taken the time to create a phone with more than just a cutting edge OS but given it a cutting edge processor and updated system software to show off what the OS is capable of.

Click to expand...

I have to agree. No doubt that this device feels unfinished. Especially when I'm texting and the keyboard freezes on me. That alone is enough to make me want to throw the device into the wall. I don't want to hear "Well you need to kill apps or get rid of widgets." That's like telling someone not to add cream and sugar to there coffee when it makes the coffee taste better. I don't want to hear excuses. I should be able to use widgets on all 7 screens and have several programs going and not have keyboard lag. The sad thing is, I still have keyboard lag with widgets on only 3 of the 7 screens and only a few programs going. I'm not sure that 1.6 will solve the problem though. It may or may not. I hope it does. It needs to be released ASAP.

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Oct 13, 2009

Lol sad but true, neither Palm nor Sprint would let the Hero outshine than their precious "flagship" and I use that term extremely loosely, Palm Pre...They both know the Pre was a bust, but it was still the best device they offered UNTIL the hero, and people are taking notice. I hope Sprint will realize the massive amount of fan support for the Hero and any android based phone in fact, and capitalize on it, otherwise their marketing department is more dense then I thought they were.

Edit: Hunt I'm sorry to say but I don't know any phone out there that doesn't experience lag when multiple apps are open, maybe you should look into getting a new device if your wanting to deal with lag because every smartphone I've owned experienced some sort of lag when running multiple apps.

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Oct 15, 2009

Is it just me or did Sprint drop the ball on the HTC Hero? I have not seen any ads or marketing whatsoever. I am a self proclaimed phone expert lol jk.

But seriously, my last phones list like this Sprint: Samsung Instinct, Blackberry Curve, LG Lotus, Palm Pre, AT&T iPhone, and now my Sprint Hero. I am saying with 100% confidence the Hero is the best all around phone, with the most possibilities, on the best network. The only place the Hero is lacking is in the camera department.

I left the iPhone for the Hero and I am not looking back. What the Hero looses in speed, which most people will not notice. It easily makes up for in customization. So, why in the heck has Sprint failed to market the best phone they have ever had on their network?

I am not completely promoting the phone to help Sprint. I am promoting the phone to make sure Sprint keeps it updated and that we get support, accessories etc...

For example watch TV, do you see all the tmobile commercials for the My Touch.

Click to expand...

They are going to be creamed by Verizon/Droid. They are doing aHUGE marketing campaign. I just got my Hero last week and am mad- I want the Droid. Bigger screen plus a keyboard! The resolution of the screen is 2x the hero and the screen is capacative (better touch). It also had a faster cpu which is my biggest complaint with the Hero (lag).

Sep 18, 2009

Picking up on my grammatical error doesn't do anything to disprove the point that the majority of people don't even know the Hero exists because Sprint didn't feel like it was important to advertise for what very well may be there flagship device!!!

I talked to a co-worker today about my Hero and she was "oh I saw a commercial about it...it seems really cool, let me look at it."

Of course I had to explain to her that that the commercial she saw was the Verizon Android device and a different phone, but the idea was the same.

BTW she loved the phone and thought it was great. Too bad it seems like sprint doesn't feel the same way and decided to hide the fact that the phone exists.

There has got to be a reason for this.

I have yet to seen any official advertisements be it posters, internet banner ads, television commercials....not a thing. Only internet forum speculation.

Can you imagine Apple would release a new product without bothering to inform the general population???

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Aug 26, 2009

Can you imagine Apple would release a new product without bothering to inform the general population???

Click to expand...

Someone at Apple could take a dump, have Steve deliver the keynote, and people would clamor about how wonderful and ground breaking it is.

Apple is all about the hype. Always has been, always will be. So no, I couldnt imagine a quiet Apple release...

That said, Im rather surprised that Sprint hasnt done any advertising about the Hero. T-Mo has commercials for the MT3G, VZ has already started ads for the artist formerly known as the Moto Sholes.

VZ cracks me up. The ad for the Droid, the hype behind it, all give the allure of a new hip device while the counter would indicate you cant get anything like it until the timer ticks down. Someone should remind VZ they were late to the game, both in the OHA and to carry android.

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Sep 18, 2009

Someone at Apple could take a dump, have Steve deliver the keynote, and people would clamor about how wonderful and ground breaking it is.

Apple is all about the hype. Always has been, always will be. So no, I couldnt imagine a quiet Apple release...

VZ cracks me up. The ad for the Droid, the hype behind it, all give the allure of a new hip device while the counter would indicate you cant get anything like it until the timer ticks down. Someone should remind VZ they were late to the game, both in the OHA and to carry android.

Click to expand...

While I am a happy Hero owner I also own several Apple computers and quite a few iPods.

I am not however one of the iZombies that flock mindlessly at the scent of anything Apple related.

I just used them to make a point. You can mock and criticize Apples iron grip on its product but you can't deny the fact that when it comes to marketing a product there are few companies on earth that do a better job.

IMO Sprint is really setting themselves up for another epic fail along the lines of the Pre when it comes to the Hero.

They had an exclusive window to position themselves as the sole provider of the top of the line Android device in the USA and they totally blew it.

Any new adopter of technology is usually aware of competing products in the marketplace and by the time Sprint gets around to hyping the Hero the Droid (and possibly several other Android based devices) will be available with specs as good as or better than the Hero on a provider that has a bigger market share....

If they haven't already Sprint should fire who ever is in charge of their marketing.